"Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” (Genesis 19:5)

• Sodomy (homosexuality) was one of Sodom’s sins.

These men were sodomites of the worse kind. They were rapists. But this extremism is exactly what we find in our society when sodomy is accepted. Sodomy along with other sexual sins always devalues the ones they abuse. It is well known that some who have got a deadly disease continue to have sexual experiences, passing their sentence of death on to others. This might not be typical but it is real just as we see in Sodom's case.

They live by desires and not by principle. Once the culture drops its protection, they leap forward in their abuse of others. Examine the problem of child abuse!

If you can't speak out against a sin, then your heart is already bound.

Homosexuality is a sin, but it does not survive by itself. Sodomy lives only among people with hardened hearts, and it would be foolish to think that would be there only sin. Note the sins listed above. We are not wrong to observe that sodomy stood out in Sodom as one of their sins. Note these two references:

1) Gen 19:3 "He urged them strongly." This combined with the following incident shows that Lot knew what the men of the city would do to anyone who camped out in the square of their walled cities. They were trapped and sexually abused. Lot could not tolerate it and risked his own life by insisting that they stay in his own home. The custom to protect a guest in ones home even with his own life if necessary. We can see this is where Lot's righteousness stood up. He liked the comforts of the city but hated the abuse. Later we see it again when he stands out in front of the crowd of lusty men protecting his guests.

2) Genesis 19:5 does not cover up their request, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them." There is no doubt that these men were sodomites! They even refused Lot's daughters because they wanted the men. We should see here that we see more than sodomy with consenting adults. These men were rapists of the worse kind. They would look out for the vulnerable and take advantage of them.

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it (Ezekiel 16:49).

We need to be careful to think that God is only against sodomy. Homosexuality is a sin, but it does not survive by itself. Sodomy lives only among people with hardened hearts and it would be foolish to think that would be there only sin. Note the sins listed above.

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. (Genesis13:10 ).

What does the New Testament say about sodomy?

The King James Version of the Bible does not even mention homosexuals in the passage cited by the religious right.? (1 Corinthians 6:9)

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. (1 Cor 6:9)

We need to be careful to think that God is only against sodomy. Homosexuality is a sin, but it does not survive by itself. Sodomy lives only among people with hardened hearts, and it would be foolish to think that that one kind of sin would live by itself. Note the sins listed above. Notice how the Apostle Paul showed the decline of a culture in Romans 1.